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Congress getting involved in sports?


Randall
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What they don't have real issues they can work on?

 

Senator Arlen Spector wants NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to explain why the league destroyed tapes from the Patriots spygate scandal.

 

Spector, the ranking republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that Goodell would eventually be called before the committee, and that it was possible coaches and players could also have to testify. One person who might face the committee would be Matt Walsh, a Patriots employee between 1996-2003 who worked in the video department. "If I ever got brought in for a deposition or something, then I would just face the whole gauntlet of questions. There would be things I’d be forced to answer that some people haven’t taken responsibility for," Walsh said.

 

Source: The New York Times

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What they don't have real issues they can work on?

 

Senator Arlen Spector wants NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to explain why the league destroyed tapes from the Patriots spygate scandal.

 

Spector, the ranking republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that Goodell would eventually be called before the committee, and that it was possible coaches and players could also have to testify. One person who might face the committee would be Matt Walsh, a Patriots employee between 1996-2003 who worked in the video department. "If I ever got brought in for a deposition or something, then I would just face the whole gauntlet of questions. There would be things I’d be forced to answer that some people haven’t taken responsibility for," Walsh said.

 

Source: The New York Times

 

I don't particularly love having my tax dollars spent on this stuff, but it does have a place in congressional business.

 

Because the major sports have Anti-trust exemption, they need to be accountable for their conduct. I am not sure what body other than congress they would be accountable to.

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I don't particularly love having my tax dollars spent on this stuff, but it does have a place in congressional business.

 

Because the major sports have Anti-trust exemption, they need to be accountable for their conduct. I am not sure what body other than congress they would be accountable to.

 

 

 

I don't know but they are still a private business and this seems more political than a result of tax payer requests or some kind of cospiracy. Baseball had a lot more people asking for action. This seems like a single action that seems to have been dealt(accountability) with promptly.n

 

I would like to know what was on the tapes, but do know they are a business too that keeps some aspects private.

 

The voter machine companies that won't let anyone look into their data(even localities that use the machines for elections) seems more important.

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http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3225539

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) wanted to hear the NFL's explanation for the purging of evidence in the infamous "Spygate" case involving the New England Patriots. He wrote commissioner Roger Goodell on Nov. 15. He got no response.

 

Specter, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote Goodell again more than a month later, after getting no acknowledgment to the initial communication.

 

 

 

Two days before the Super Bowl, there is plenty of response.

 

In a phone interview Thursday with The New York Times, Specter said the committee at some point will call on Goodell to discuss why the league destroyed the tapes that revealed the Patriots had been spying on the competition.

 

"That requires an explanation," Specter told The Times. "The NFL has a very preferred status in our country with their antitrust exemption. The American people are entitled to be sure about the integrity of the game. It's analogous to the CIA destruction of tapes, or any time you have records destroyed."

 

An NFL spokesman told The Times that Specter's letters did not reach the league until late last week, and there was no mention of the letters on the occasions the two parties had communicated on other issues. Specter said his office had been told by the NFL that there would be no response until after Super Bowl XLII.

 

Spygate came to the forefront in September, when New York Jets security officials discovered a Patriots video assistant recording the Jets' defensive signals during the Sept. 9 game at Giants Stadium. The videocamera and tape were confiscated. Goodell also ordered the Patriots to turn over all videotape, notes and files involving taping of opponents' signals.

 

The Patriots got hit by the most severe penalty in NFL history -- coach Bill Belichick was fined $500,000, the team was fined $250,000 and also will lose a first-round pick in the draft in April.

 

 

Subsequently, the league said it had destroyed the tapes after looking at them. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello, in a September e-mail to ESPN.com, wrote that the reason for destroying them was "so that our clubs would know they no longer exist and cannot be used by anyone."

 

Specter, a lifelong Philadelphia Eagles fan who still calls sports radio stations on Monday mornings, said he was concerned about the integrity of sports.

 

"I don't think you have to have a law broken to have a legitimate interest by the Congress on the integrity of the game ... What if there was something on the tapes we might want to be subpoenaed, for example? You can't destroy it. That would be obstruction of justice," Specter said to The Times.

 

There is no timetable for when the committee would call upon Goodell, who has a previously scheduled news conference Friday morning in Phoenix.

 

Bill Belichick, at his Friday morning news conference, was asked about Specter and his demand for an NFL explanation on the tapes' demise. "It's a league matter," Belichick said. "I don't know anything about it."

 

 

The possibility exists that Patriots employees or other NFL personnel would have to testify before the committee.

 

"It's premature to say whom we're going to call or when," Specter said. "It starts with the commissioner. He had the tapes, and he made the decision as to what the punishment could be. He made the decision to destroy them."

 

 

 

 

EDIT:The letters wrriten and recieved are in the link.

Edited by xtra
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Wow, a Patriots employee from 2003 is saying there is more BS going on. The league knew about him and didn't interview him. Then the league destroyed all the tapes for some strange reason.

 

Nah, the Patriots aren't cheaters. :wacko:

 

 

They could have done what they do in college-put them on probabtion and take away playoff rights.

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If they didn't turn over everything they violated the agreement.

 

 

 

Allegations have surfaced that a member of the Patriots' video department filmed the Rams' final walkthrough before Super Bowl XXXVI.

 

It's not known what the cameraman did with the tape nor whether he made the tape on his own initiative or if he was instructed by the Patriots coaching staff. Commissioner Goodell remains adamant that the taping did not benefit the Patriots in any Super Bowl victories.

 

Source: Boston Herald

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Wow, a Patriots employee from 2003 is saying there is more BS going on. The league knew about him and didn't interview him. Then the league destroyed all the tapes for some strange reason.

 

Nah, the Patriots aren't cheaters. :wacko:

 

 

Patriots did what they were instructed to do.....they turned over the tapes...they didnt destroy the tapes, the LEAGUE did.....!

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Wow, a Patriots employee from 2003 is saying there is more BS going on. The league knew about him and didn't interview him. Then the league destroyed all the tapes for some strange reason.

 

Nah, the Patriots aren't cheaters. :wacko:

 

 

Did you read his statements? This dude is a liar looking for publicity. Holding a grudge because he is out of football. He told espn he was on the golf team in school, well the university has NO RECORD of him on the golf team. Can't trust anything this guy has to say, which if you read what he said, is a bunch of beating around the bush with no actual information...

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It's a former employee. I would wait a little longer before saying anything about an asterisk on the dynasty...

 

make that a, FIRED, former employee...

 

look it, the Patriots are the center of attention of the sports world and beyond right now,

any scum bag that wants to grab on to their tail, is doing so...including a Senator

 

the hate/envy/jealousy is strong, but opportunistic $$ may be stronger...

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make that a, FIRED, former employee...

 

What do you think is a stronger motivator:

 

- Not whistle-blowing because you're working for a team that is in the middle of a winning streak

- Whistle-blowing a fake story out of spite because you were fired from a non-glamorous position

 

I'd lean toward the first one. That's just me.

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Does anyone know exactly when the league made it against the rules to video tape your opponent during practice, walk-throughs or during the game?

 

Big John?

http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patr...taping_rul.html

 

In 2006, the NFL clarified the information gathering rules to also mean videotaping during the game.

 

Older rules apply to practice, where scouts from other teams are prohibited from even observing. With an exception of if admission is charged to attend the practice, any other team scout can do that for the price of admission.

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http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patr...taping_rul.html

 

In 2006, the NFL clarified the information gathering rules to also mean videotaping during the game.

 

Older rules apply to practice, where scouts from other teams are prohibited from even observing. With an exception of if admission is charged to attend the practice, any other team scout can do that for the price of admission.

 

 

According to everything I've read it's not against the rules to videotape the other team during the game, it's against the rules to do it from certain areas. So could you video tape the opposing team from the stands?

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According to everything I've read it's not against the rules to videotape the other team during the game, it's against the rules to do it from certain areas. So could you video tape the opposing team from the stands?
Videotaping of any type, including but not limited to taping of an opponent's offensive or defensive signals, is prohibited on the sidelines, in the coaches' booth, in the locker room, or at any other locations accessible to club staff members during the game."

 

The stands are accessible to club staff as well as to the general public, so it looks like that was in included as "other location".

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Did you read his statements? This dude is a liar looking for publicity. Holding a grudge because he is out of football. He told espn he was on the golf team in school, well the university has NO RECORD of him on the golf team. Can't trust anything this guy has to say, which if you read what he said, is a bunch of beating around the bush with no actual information...

He did sound like a weasel in that interview.Not sure why he would lie about playing golf in college,that would be ignorant.But even if he did,didnt the Patriots also lie when this whole thing started and break the rules as well?

If so how can you trust what they said anymore than what he said?

 

Goodell burning the tapes has never made sense.How can a business that big not hide the tapes somewhere safe?

 

IMO the only 2 reasons for destroying them is if there was something worse than what they say was on there or something that didnt warrant the punishment.

Edited by xtra
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What do you think is a stronger motivator:

 

- Not whistle-blowing because you're working for a team that is in the middle of a winning streak

- Whistle-blowing a fake story out of spite because you were fired from a non-glamorous position

 

I'd lean toward the first one. That's just me.

when the 'whistle-blowing' takes place 5 years after he was fired and seven years after the alleged taping,

i dont believe any of it.....show me the tape.

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Wow, a Patriots employee from 2003 is saying there is more BS going on. The league knew about him and didn't interview him. Then the league destroyed all the tapes for some strange reason.

 

Nah, the Patriots aren't cheaters. :wacko:

Newest related news says the guy made back up tapes. This is going to get real interesting very quickly. :D

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Did you read his statements? This dude is a liar looking for publicity. Holding a grudge because he is out of football. He told espn he was on the golf team in school, well the university has NO RECORD of him on the golf team. Can't trust anything this guy has to say, which if you read what he said, is a bunch of beating around the bush with no actual information...

 

 

Why would the NFL have a 'cover up'?? If they did, perhaps its because everyone is doing it...? Pats aren't covering up anything..

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